Blowing device for refining crude iron



Nov. 7, 1961 R. RINESCH ETTAL BLOWING DEVICE FOR REFINING CRUDE IRON Filed May 21. 1959 FIG. 7

INVENTORS RUDOLF RINESCH KON RAD LANGER THEIR ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofiice 3,007,691 Patented Nov. 7, 1961 3,007,691 BLOWING DEVICE 1 R REFINTNG CRUDE HON Rudolf Rinesch and Konrad Langer, Froschberg, Linz (Danube), Austria, assignors to Vereinigte Osterreichische Eisenund Stahlwerke Alttiengesellschaft, Linz (Danube), Austria, a company of Austria Filed May 21, 1959, Ser. No. 814,806 Claims priority, application Austria May 30, 1958 2 Claims. (Cl. 26634) This invention relates to a blowing device for refining crude iron in a method in which the refining agent, particularly oxygen is blown from above onto the liquid bath in a cruciblelike refining vessel. Known blowing devices consist of a vertically adjustable blowing tube, which is suspended by means of a rope from a carrying structure. The introduction and pulling of the blowing tube is effected by means of a pneumatic or electrical drive acting on the rope.

These known devices have the disadvantage that the blowing tube suspended from the rope is insufliciently guiided in the upper part of the crucible so that a deviation from the intended blowing position or a clamping during the introduction and pulling cannot be reliably avoided. During operational disturbances resulting therefrom or in the case of an interruption in the supply of cooling water a replacement of the blowing tube or of the supply conduits is very difficult in the range of the greatest heat radiation above the crucible and the charge may congeal.

The present invention has as its object to avoid these difiiculties and to provide for the space required at the top part of the crucible during charging, emptying and other ancillary operations in a refining process and to ensure at the same time that the blowing tube is positively guided in all positions so that it cannot be clamped when it is being introduced or pulled.

The device according to the invention resides in that a pivoted framelike carrier for the blowing tube has a vertical guide, e.g., a rail, on which the blowing tube is slidably guided, suitably with the aid of a wheeled or slidable carriage. In this arrangement the blowing tube is always positively guided in a vertical position and the stability is substantially increased. The guide rail may consist of a rack in mesh with a toothed wheel of the slidable carriage, which wheel is operated by an electrically controlled drive.

The invention will be explained more fully with reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows in FIG. 1 a longitudinal sectional view and in FIG. 2 a top plan view of an illustrative embodiment.

The frame consisting of the part 4, the upper arm 5, the lower arm 6 and the vertical guide rail 7 is pivoted laterally above the crucible 1 on the shaft 3 afiixed to the wall 2. The carriage 8 is vertically slidable on the guide rail 7, which may consist of a rack. The blowing tube 9 is rigidly aflixed to the slidable carriage 8 and extends parallel to the rail 7 so that a positive vertical guidance of the blowing tube is ensured. The drive of the slidable carriage may be efiected by an electric motor and a toothed wheel transmission 10 and may be controlled from the operators station. The turning shaft 3 is driven by a drive 11, which is also controlled from the operators station. 12 is a winch, to which a rope 13 is afiixed, which extends around the roller 14 to the blowing tube carriage. This device serves as a safety device, which may be used for introducing and pulling in the case of a failure of the electric drive.

In the top plan view of FIG. 2 the frame carrying the blowing tube is shown in the swung-out position II. The dash-and-dot line I is the operative position. It is apparent that the length of the pivoted arms 5, 6 is such that the elevated blowing tube can be sufiiciently swung away from the crucible 1 to permit of an undisturbed performance of the operations preceding and succeeding the blowing, e.g., the charging and emptying, without restriction of space.

What we claim is:

1. A blowing device for refining crude iron in a convertor having a top charging and pouring mouth and being mounted for tilting around a horizontal axis between a blowing position in which the mouth is directed upwardly and a pouring position, comprising a frame-like carrying structure having a vertical portion and a pair of spaced apart arms extending laterally from said vertical portion, pivot means aligned with said vertical portion supporting said frame-like carrying structure for pivoting movement around a vertical axis, a vertical guide rail mounted on the outer ends of said arms, a carriage for supporting a blowing tube slidably mounted on the vertical guide for positively guided vertical movement relative thereto, and a drive device rigidly mounted on the carriage positively engaging the vertical guide to drive the tube vertically, the carriage being movable with the carrying frame to position the blowing tube in alignment with the convertor mouth when the convertor is in said blowing position and completely to one side of the convertor when the latter is to be tilted.

2. A blowing device as set forth in claim 1 in which the vertical guide rail comprises a toothed rack, and said drive device comprises a toothed wheel meshing with said rack and means for rotating said toothed wheel to move said carriage along said rack.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,073,587 Billings Sept. 23, 1913 2,536,201 Meincke et al Jan. 2, 1951 2,586,824 Hunt Feb. 26, 1952 2,822,163 McFeathers Feb. 4, 1958 2,886,308 Boynton May 12, 1959 OTHER REFERENCES Tour. of Metals, pages 396-400, vol. 5, No. 3, March 1953.

Materials and Processes, James F. Young, 2nd ed., page 937, John Wiley & Sons, 1954. 

